A Bicycle Mayor has been appointed in Katowice, the southern Polish city hosting this year’s UN climate talks, known as COP24. Cycling changemaker Grzegorz Mikrut will help accelerate the city’s transformation, to unlock the massive social and environmental gains that come from increased cycling.

COP24: Bicycle Mayor appointed in Katowice to accelerate climate action Poland’s first Bicycle Mayor appointed at UN Climate Change Summit

11 December 2018

A Bicycle Mayor has been appointed in Katowice, the southern Polish city hosting this year’s UN climate talks, known as COP24. Cycling changemaker Grzegorz Mikrut will help accelerate the city’s transformation, to unlock the massive social and environmental gains that come from increased cycling. The appointment comes with a call to cities around the world to make their own public commitment to addressing climate change during COP24, by also joining the rapidly expanding global Bicycle Mayor network.

Thousands of people from around the world are attending COP24 this week to identity solutions to the climate crisis. Recent reports suggest that the Paris climate commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees will not be achievable without widespread, international commitments. Tackling air pollution is seen as one of the biggest health co-benefits of addressing climate change. It was recently announced that the equivalent population of six Amsterdams die every year from air pollution alone. Poland has been criticised for regularly breaching both World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union (EU) air quality standards, and because of its continued use of coal as a major fuel source. Katowice specifically is also extremely reliant on car transportation, with little infrastructure available to walking and cycling. Addressing these challenges in the city hosting COP sends a clear signal to the world.

By 2050, if even just 7% more trips were made by bike and foot, we could avoid around five gigatons of carbon emissions, equivalent to taking all motorised transport off the road and out of the skies across Europe for five full years. BYCS, a Dutch social enterprise working internationally on breakthrough cycling solutions, wants to go further - its mission is called 50by30: half of all city trips by bike by 2050. Amid concerns and criticism that not enough international action is being pledged at COP24, BYCS hopes the appointment of Poland’s first Bicycle Mayor will accelerate the global transition to more liveable cities, with sustainable economies at their core.

Maud de Vries, co-founder of BYCS, said:

“We came to COP24 to help spread the message of how cycling positively transforms cities and to secure concrete actions. We are delighted to have been able to help Poland take this decisive step of finding its first Bicycle Mayor and we now call on all cities around the world to follow Poland’s lead. Increasing cycling requires low investment but provides huge returns - it helps tackle challenges around air pollution, climate change and resource use while unlocking massive social, environmental and economic gains for everyone. It’s time for every city to join the cycling revolution and think beyond the car.”

Bicycle Mayors are independent city catalysts. They identify solutions to accelerate cycling adoption then unite all city stakeholders to make it happen. What started in 2016 with one Bicycle Mayor in Amsterdam - the global capital of cycling - has now spread to every continent. The network was established and is coordinated by BYCS. After consultation with local partners, it appointed Grzegorz Mikrut - a university professor and a member of the Polish Cycling Federation - as Katowice’s Bicycle Mayor at an event in the city last night.

Grzegorz Mikrut, the new Bicycle Mayor of Katowice, said:

“This is the statement that Poland and Katowice needed to make during COP24 to show that it is serious about shifting the status quo and creating more liveable cities, fit for the future. As an independent, voluntary Bicycle Mayor, I can bypass the country’s political stalemate to deliver real action. I will now begin the process of listening to all citizens and groups to identify the most pressing challenges, and the smartest solutions, and then I will bring people together to make change happen. Increasing cycling is something that every city must do to address the urgent challenges of today and to prepare for a more exciting, healthy and prosperous future.”

If you’d like to join the Bicycle Mayor program or would like to support the global network, go to www.bicyclemayor.org

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask – ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

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BYCShttps://bycs.org/tag:bycs.pr.co,2005:PressRelease/1698532018-11-20T00:00:00+01:002018-11-20T00:00:00+01:00Bicycle Mayors around world call on cities to become ‘fit for children’

Today, on the UN’s Universal Children’s Day, the Global Bicycle Mayor & Leader Network is launching ‘Cities fit for children’, a campaign to accelerate the opportunity for young people to cycle safely in every city around the world, to improve their health.

Bicycle Mayors around world call on cities to become ‘fit for children’ 20 November 2018

Today, on the UN’s Universal Children’s Day, the Global Bicycle Mayor & Leader Network is launching ‘Cities fit for children’, a campaign to accelerate the opportunity for young people to cycle safely in every city around the world, to improve their health.

Through the campaign, all Bicycle Mayors will initiate programs that will stimulate increased, safe cycling for children in their cities, to improve their health, happiness and opportunities. This follows the success of the ‘Bicycle Heroes’ model established in Amsterdam earlier this year. In addition, the Bicycle Mayors are calling on city leaders around the world to act urgently on the importance of safe cycling for children and help ensure every child can access a bicycle.

The Bicycle Mayor & Leader Network is a global movement of city catalysts. Members identify and lead projects that can make the biggest impact for cycling in cities, and unite everyone to take action. Bicycle Mayors act according to local need but with the support of the energy and ideas from the global network. The group is motivated by the way that increased cycling radically improves physical and mental health, as well as addresses systemic city challenges around air pollution, community cohesion and climate change.

The ‘Cities fit for children’ campaign recognises that cities can make most profound improvements for all people when they prioritise some of their most vulnerable citizens, children. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently found that 90% of the world’s children are breathing toxic air, and that this leads to 600,000 children dying every year because of respiratory problems. Further to this, WHO predicts that the number of overweight or obese children will exceed 70 million by 2025, which is also associated with an increase in heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. It also report that childhood mental health is on the increase. In the Netherlands - by contrast - where a quarter of people cycle every day, children are noted as being amongst the happiest in any country on earth.

Kids enjoying a bicycle race in Amsterdam

In March this year, Amsterdam Bicycle Mayor Katelijne Boerma launched her ‘Bicycle Heroes’ project to further improve cycling for young people. She helped find pupils in junior schools across the city to lead cycling progress in their schools. These ‘Heroes’ have been involved in designathons and co-creation workshops to develop new solutions for cycling access. Amongst the Heroes, one child - Lotta Crok - was appointed Junior Bicycle Mayor to represent progress for all children in the city. As part of the ‘Cities fit for children’ campaign, the Bicycle Heroes project will now be adopted by the Bicycle Mayor of Mexico City, Areli Carreon, and also by the Bicycle Mayors of Sao Paulo and Bengaluru, JP Amaral and Sathya Sankaran. Other commitments from the Bicycle Mayors announced today through the campaign include educating children to cycle in India, Brazil and South Africa.

Amsterdam Bicycle Mayor Katelijne Boerma, said: “If we make cities fit for children then they automatically become fit for everyone. Increasing cycling increases a city’s happiness and health. We need to encourage and inspire more children to cycle everyday - to do this, it is vitally important to give children a voice and to make them a part of the search for cycling solutions in all parts of the world.”

The local 'Bicycle Heroes' together with Bicycle Mayor of Amsterdam, Katelijne Boerma in front of the BYCS HQ

The Bicycle Mayor & Leader Network was established and is coordinated by BYCS, the Dutch social enterprise with a mission called 50by30, 50% of all city trips by bicycle by 2030.

Maud de Vries, co-founder of BYCS, said: “The needless death and danger children are exposed to in our cities must stop, now. By giving kids safe access to bicycles, we can help make it happen and we believe every child should have access to a bicycle. In this way, we can unlock massive social, economic and environmental gains for all city residents. This should be a priority for every city; investments are cheap and returns are massive. We therefore call on all governments, businesses, IGO's and NGO’s to help ensure a happier and healthier future for every child.”

To support ‘Cities fit for children’, you can:

All citizens: Find out what your local Bicycle Mayor is doing and get involved in their work. If your city does not have a Bicycle Mayor, then help BYCS to find one. The full list of Bicycle Mayors and info on how to elect one is at www.bicyclemayor.org

City leaders and planners - commit to principles that prioritise safe cycling for children. For inspiration and ideas on how to start transforming your city connect with BYCS through www.bycs.org or order the starter kit from our friends at Urban 95 here.

Parents and carers of children: Find out about safe cycling in your city and help build cycling into your child’s everyday activities.

People around the world are encouraged to share pictures of their cities on social media, tagging @BYCS_org and #FitForChildren

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask – ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

Universal Children’s Day

United Nations Universal Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Universal Children's Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children's rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for Children. Find out more about how to make ‘Cities fit for children’ at www.bycs.org.

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BYCShttps://bycs.org/tag:bycs.pr.co,2005:PressRelease/1695562018-11-02T12:36:20+01:002018-11-02T12:36:20+01:00Bicycle Mayors Urge World Leaders to Invest in Cycling at WHO Conference: “we need more human-oriented cities for cleaner air and health”

At the first World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in Geneva, the Breathe Life campaign around clean air for a healty future got strong commitments from global leaders, governments, IGO’s and NGO’s to change the way we live and work as we do now. “600.000 children around the world die every year, because of air pollution, mostly in developing countries. In London, a 9-year old girl called Ella, lost her life because of asthma. It’s time for change. No more air pollution,” Christiana Figueres said during the opening session.

Photo: Mara Lucia, PAHO/OPAS - Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General at WHO, and Sao Paulo Brazil Bicycle Mayor JP Amaral entering the end session on a bicycle, as an important measure to tackle the global crisis of life-threatening air pollution.

Bicycle Mayors Urge World Leaders to Invest in Cycling at WHO Conference: “we need more human-oriented cities for cleaner air and health”

At the first World Health organization (WHO) Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in Geneva, the Breathe Life campaign around clean air for a healthy future got strong commitments from global leaders, governments, IGO’s and NGO’s to change the way we live and work as we do now. “600.000 children around the world die every year, because of air pollution, mostly in developing countries. In London, a 9-year old girl called Ella, lost her life because of asthma. It’s time for change. No more air pollution,” Christiana Figueres said during the opening session. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General at WHO, and Sao Paulo Brazil Bicycle Mayor JP Amaral opened the end ceremony riding in on a bike, to underline the importance of the shift from car-centric cities to human-centric.

Bicycled Mayors and leaders are representing the more radical changes needed for us to not only survive, but thrive in a future of climate and pollution instability. This leadership network is a decentralized, yet cohesive group of 21st century catalysts, dedicated to rapidly shifting our urban mobility priorities from car-centric to human-centric, thereby setting the stage for a wider-range of changes that benefit all city dwellers.

Every percentage shift from a car trip to a bicycle trip results in an exponential improvement in all facets of citizens' quality of life. To this end, a new group of leaders and changemakers must trigger and accelerate this shift, as current leaders lack the sense of urgency, and political will.

“Bicycle Mayors and leaders are at the conference to declare that our reliance on cars for urban mobility has reached its end-point, and a new, more human, healthier, happier and more prosperous city is possible”, Maud de Vries, co-founder of BYCS, said. “We call an end to the fallacy that more cars on roads lead to happier, healthier, more fulfilled lives. We know that in fact the opposite is true. To this end, we are leading the shift to more bicycle usage thereby ushering in an era of city life that is more human, healthier, happier and more prosperous. Cycling has many, many beneficial side effects and I am excited to see the commitment from world leaders and governments here in Geneva, to help us and our partners, like the Global Call for Climate Action (GCCA) make the shift.”

JP Amaral said: “Bicycles transform cities, cities transform the world. UN says, by 2030, two-thirds of the world will live in cities. Therefore, the BYCS-organization and the Bicycle Mayors committed to 50x30, half of all city trips by bicycle by 2030. And secondly, we promise to have over 200 Bicycle Mayors worldwide by 2019. We think cycling isnot transportation, but transformation.”

Amsterdam based social enterprise BYCS initiated the Bicycle Mayor Network in 2016. What started then, with one Bicycle Mayor in Amsterdam, has now grown out to a full-fledged network of passionate changemakers with Bicycle Mayors accelerating city progress on every continent.

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About BYCS:

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask - ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

Amsterdam based social enterprise BYCS organised a summit of the international Bicycle Mayors from 8 to 14 october in Mexico City. The six day event brought the changemakers together to discuss challenges, share solutions and identify ways to radically accelerate city transformation through cycling. The event was fruitful and included a visit to the Dutch embassy in Mexico; a treasure hunt exercise that led to valuable insights on city problem solving, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Bicycle Mayors of Bangalore, (Sathya Sankaran) Mexico-city (Areli Carréon) and BYCS founder Maud de Vries.

Bicycle Mayor Summit Leads to New Insights, Partnerships and Opportunities

Amsterdam based social enterprise BYCS organised a summit of the international Bicycle Mayors from 8 to 14 october in Mexico City. The six day event brought the changemakers together to discuss challenges, share solutions and identify ways to radically accelerate city transformation through cycling. The event was fruitful and included a visit to the Dutch embassy in Mexico; a treasure hunt exercise that led to valuable insights on city problem solving, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Bicycle Mayors of Bangalore, (Sathya Sankaran) Mexico-city (Areli Carréon) and BYCS founder Maud de Vries.

Treasure Hunt

One of the main events of the Summit was a treasure hunt through Mexico city in which the Bicycle Mayors went through the city by bicycle, taking in the challenges it faces and using Design Thinking methods to think of ways to tackle them, in Mexico City and in any other city that faces the same issues. The exercise led to many new insights on solving environmental, infrastructural and social issues.

Philippe Dagher, Bicycle Mayor of Beirut said:

“Exploring the city by bike is the best way to identify the obstacles that it faces. In a megacity like Mexico City the potential impact of the bicycle is evident. The Design Thinking methods we used here to solve the social and infrastructural issues of this city, can be applied anywhere in the world. The main lesson, is that taking space away from cars to give back to bikes and pedestrians, gives cities the opportunity to flourish, and acts as a catalyst for creativity, good health and social cohesion.”

Shift: Mexico City

On day two, a large public event was held as part of the summit, which was opened by the Dutch Ambassador of Mexico, Margriet Leemhuis. After the brief introduction the Bicycle Mayors held Pecha Kucha style presentations on innovation, infrastructure and policy.

Juventino Quiroz, Bicycle Mayor of Panama City on stimulating cycling progress during SHIFT: Mexico City

Dutch embassy of Mexico

Another summit milestone was a visit to the dutch embassy in Mexico, where the bicycle mayors met the dutch ambassador, Margriet Leemhuis. The bicycle mayors were very grateful for support they got from the embassy.

Margriet Leemhuis said:

“It was great meeting these changemakers from around the world, and to see the energy and passion of this group. I truly believe every city would benefit from having a Bicycle Mayor appointed to stimulate cycling, for healthier, happier and more social cities ”

Bicycle Mayors standing around the Dutch Ambassador of Mexico (on the bicycle)

MOU around cycling to work and mental health

Another promising outcome of the Summit was that the Bicycle Mayors of Bangalore, Sathya Sankaran, and Mexico City, Areli Carréon, along with BYCS founder Maud de Vries, signed an MOU in order to explore further opportunities in scaling the role of the bicycle in making both megacities happier and healthier places for their inhabitants, while spending significantly less resources as other modes of transport demand.

Sathya Sankaran, Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru, said:

“Promoting our bike to work-program (biketowork.co) in both cities, with a joint effort focusing on global companies, will already be a big step forward. Besides that, it will be very interesting to bring both our governments to see where we can learn from each others efforts and inspire both to systemically invest in cycling. With the largest cycling congres, Vélo-city, coming to Mexico in 2020, we would like to be prepared by then and be an example to other megacities, for example Istanbul.”

Areli Carréon, Bicycle Mayor of Mexico City, founder of Bicitekas and one of the ten Women for Climate of Mexico City, wants to start with Bike to Work and simultaneously kick off the 'Go Cycling’ campaign that BYCS just started in the business district of Amsterdam South.

Areli Carreon said:

“We all know every day cycling makes a massive contribution when it comes to personal health and in my own story, when I was suffering from mental issues, that was the moment when I fell in love with the bike, many years ago. We have so many people in Mexico suffering from depression, we really need to work harder to become a bicycle-oriented city. Now our mode share is at 2%, I would love to take that up to 20% by 2020.”

Carreon and Sankaran are inspiring their governments to visit each others cities, using their MOU.

The summit concluded with a closing ceremony, in which the Bicycle Mayors wrapped up the learnings from the summit and shared what strategies they plan to take back to implement in their own cities. Thereafter they joined in a group bike ride through Mexico City as part of its car free day. If you’d like to know more, head over to bicyclemayor.org.

The Bicycle Mayor summit was initiated together with BAM Infra, and Alcaldía de la Bicicleta CDMX, and supported by Centro de Cultura Digital Bicitekas, Brompton, Concepto Ciudad and CityEs.

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask - ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

A new campaign called Go Cycling, connecting cycling with good mental health and business success, is launching today in Amsterdam’s international business district, Zuidas. The campaign will run initially from 8 - 12 October to coincide with World Mental Health Day taking place on Wednesday 10 October.

A new campaign called Go Cycling, connecting cycling with good mental health and business success, is launching today in Amsterdam’s international business district, Zuidas. The campaign will run initially from 8 - 12 October to coincide with World Mental Health Day taking place on Wednesday 10 October.

The campaign builds on the fact that 1 in 4 people suffer from mental health problems each year, with many more of us suffering from stress and anxiety on a daily basis. Go Cycling aims to educate people to the wide-ranging mental health benefits of cycling and make it easier for more people to get on their bike.

Nine in ten people working in the Netherlands report that they struggle to cope with the psychological demands of work. A number of leading studies have proven that cycling can reduce stress and anxiety, prevent burnout and help fight depression. In addition, four in five workers take sick days, higher than the European average. Cycling to work is proven to reduce sickness absence and prevent long term leave from mental ill health. Employees who cycle are found to be more engaged, effective and energised.

Go Cycling launches with a website - www.go-cycling.org - (in Dutch and English) that provides employees with simple tips for how to start cycling. This includes information on incentives for cyclists, local routes, and options for buying, leasing or sharing bicycles and e-bikes. The site also provides advice for employers on how to make it easier to foster a cycling culture in their workplace. Businesses can share costs for a number of operations that facilitate cycling, such as installing parking and shower facilities, from Hello Zuidas.

The campaign is a collaboration between Hello Zuidas, Zuidasdok and BYCS.

Maud de Vries, co-founder of BYCS said: “Cycling is more than transportation, it is transformation. Too many people are suffering from poor mental health but we know that cycling can improve this if it becomes part of your daily commute. Whilst numbers of cycling are higher in Amsterdam than many cities, it is still too low amongst business professionals getting to work here. With Zuidas aiming to become a leading example of progressive international business approaches, increasing cycling is essential to achieving this, and we hope every business joins the movement.”

On World Mental Health Day (10th October), BYCS will be hosting a free public breakfast event from its cultural events series ‘SHIFT’ at Circl, the ABN AMRO pavilion. The event will explore the topics raised by the Go Cycling campaign with international experts and speakers on mental health, urban planning and business. For more information and registration, head to www.go-cycling.org.

One of the speakers at the SHIFT event is Ione Avila-Palencia of the Institute for Global Health. The Institute’s recent report concluded that people who cycled in cities were found to have better self-perceived general health, better mental health, greater vitality, lower self-perceived stress and fewer feelings of loneliness.

“Cycling regularly between home and work has countless benefits. I have been doing so for many years and can truly say that I feel physically and mentally fitter than ever! An additional benefit is the positive impact cycling has on CO2 reduction and the environmental footprint. These reasons alone should be enough to just give it it try.”

Throughout the week, a large ‘pledge wall’ will be touring Zuidas. Everyone is encouraged to sign the wall and make a pledge to take steps to improving their own mental health.

Data: Information on mental health provided by the Dutch Institute of Psychology, Volksgezondheidenzorg.info and ISGlobal.

About BYCS:

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask - ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

With ‘Bicycle Mayors’ now active on every continent, tackling everything from air pollution to social mobility, a new campaign calls on cities to join the growing global change network.

Cities urged to adopt Bicycle Mayors to accelerate progress With ‘Bicycle Mayors’ now active on every continent, tackling everything from air pollution to social mobility, a new campaign calls on cities to join the growing global change network. Amsterdam, 26 July 2018

A new campaign aims to see ‘Bicycle Mayors’ appointed in over 100 cities around the world by the end of this decade. Dutch cycling social enterprise BYCS says this will radically accelerate the transformation of cities, preparing them for the urgent challenges of tomorrow, whilst unlocking massive social, environmental and economic gains for everyone today.

The Bicycle Mayor concept started in 2016 with one Mayor in Amsterdam and has now spread to every continent. These changemakers act as catalysts, identifying and leading projects that make the greatest impact for cycling in cities, and uniting everyone to take action. And by connecting them across a global network, their status and opportunities are elevated, and challenges and solutions are shared rapidly.

The promotion campaign is brought to life by a short video showing Bicycle Mayor activities undertaken on the UN’s first World Bicycle Day last month. Together, they are using the bicycle to address pollution crises, tackle road deaths, break down social barriers and enable people to access essential services for the first time.

Impacts underway include:

Mexico City, Mexico - Areli Carreon is named as one of the ten 'Women for Climate' in Mexico City’s project to build responses to Climate Change. She helped to coordinate the cycling community to verify damages and move supplies around in the wake of a devastating earthquake, and is taking legal action against air pollution.

Cape Town, South Africa - Lebogang Mokwena is working with women in townships to learn to cycle (and to get bikes) to access education and employment. She also works with people affected by lifestyle diseases to increase their active mobility.

Sao Paulo, Brazil - JP Amaral is mobilising thousands of volunteers to support people to start cycling for the first time, moving commuters from cars to bikes.

India - Bicycle Mayors are active in four cities. Tackling the air pollution crisis and empowering people to cycle from all parts of society, their work is to be discussed with the country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Katelijne Boerma is making cycling safer for children; working with schools and helping to elect the world’s first Junior Bicycle Mayor.

"The bicycle is more than transportation. It is transformation. For individuals, it leads to increased health and happiness. And it allows them to access basic human needs around public services, education and employment. On a city-level, it builds community cohesion, inspires new forms of sustainable enterprise and addresses systemic challenges around climate change and air pollution. It unlocks massive social, environmental and economic gains. Two years after we started the program, Bicycle Mayors are successfully proving how they can accelerate the positive changes our cities urgently need. So today we call on cities across the world to join the program and start their own transformation."

Lee Feldman, co-founder of BYCS

The Bicycle Mayor program was born out of BYCS’ ambitious mission called 50by30: 50% of all city trips by bicycle by 2030. The network is able to grow rapidly as Bicycle Mayors are independent. They are not reliant on city or national government backing - instead, they only require enough popular support from citizens and city stakeholders for an election, to officially join the network. Each Mayor is then guided by a set of shared global principles and supported by BYCS to ensure focus, impact and local accountability.

BYCS invests its profits to support the Bicycle Mayor program, but - to sustain the expected rapid growth and ensure every Mayor is best supported - BYCS has now also opened up two new branded supporter packages to attract additional, essential investment. Organizations can become either a ‘Local Champion’ to support specific Mayors or a ‘Global Partner’. They will be able to show off this support publicly and will join a network of like-minded organizations around the world. The first Global Partner is announced today as BAM Infra - part of the Royal BAM Group - which is helping to fund the next global Bicycle Mayor Summit to take place in Mexico City in October 2018.

"The bicycle is an essential tool for change by allowing more people to become active, empowered and connected. We believe that increasing everyone's opportunity to cycle makes people healthier and happier, as well as making cities more prosperous and resilient. The Bicycle Mayor network is proving that every city can benefit from having a human face of cycling progress. We are pleased to therefore support the Bicycle Mayor network and we encourage other cities and organizations to lend their support."

Johan Winnubst, BAM Infra

Individuals can also support the growth of the network by helping BYCS to find and elect a Bicycle Mayor in their city, or to actively support and promote the work of their Mayor if they already have one.

BYCS is an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. Our mission is called 50by30: 50% of all trips by bicycle by 2030. It demands the brightest ideas and the most determined action. And we believe it will lead to a fundamental increase in health, happiness and prosperity for all. We work towards 50by30 through initiating, testing and scaling breakthrough ideas around cycling. We invest our profits into managing the global Bicycle Mayor program. In all our work, we always ask - ‘where can the bicycle take us?’

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BYCShttps://bycs.org/tag:bycs.pr.co,2005:PressRelease/1676352018-07-19T14:25:56+02:002018-07-19T14:25:56+02:00World’s first Junior Bicycle Mayor elected in Amsterdam

Lotta Crock, the world's first Junior Bicycle Mayor, will work to make cycling safer, better and more fun for kids in Amsterdam.

World’s first Junior Bicycle Mayor elected in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has appointed a Junior Bicycle Mayor to help encourage and inspire more children across the Dutch capital to cycle every day. Eight-year-old Lotta Crok will be working closely with the (senior) Bicycle Mayor of the city and supported by a Council of other juniors. It is planned the concept will now be implemented in other cities around the world.

Lotta was selected from a group of 27 children already named as Fietshelden (Bicycle Heroes) in each of their junior schools because of their ideas for improving cycling opportunities around their schools. To find the Mayor amongst them, the mini heroes were all invited to take part in a design competition at Amsterdam’s Makerversity to show off their concepts for how to improve cycling for children across the whole city.

Lotta, who attends the Dr. Rijk Kramerschool in Amsterdam-West, won with her ideas for a public transport bicycle that accommodates children and a special public transport tandem bicycle. In this way, she hopes to improve access to cycling for kids and to improve safety for those that currently catch lifts on the back of friends’ or parents’ bikes. Amsterdam already has a leading bike hire scheme provided by the public transport authority, that connects with other forms of transport, but there are limited provisions for children.

The Fietshelden and Junior Bicycle Mayor concepts were first developed by Amsterdam Bicycle Mayor Katelijne Boerma as part of her election campaign last year. She said she wanted all children to be able to cycle through the city safely and enjoyably.

"It was a super exciting competition. We heard so many good plans from the Fietshelden, and in the coming period we are going to realize a whole lot of them. With Lotta and the other children in our Council, we’re going to do a lot of transportive, exciting things. And of course we want to visit the new city Alderman for transport soon to share all the ideas, and we want to meet with the public transport body NS to help realize Lotta's vision."

Katelijne Boerma

The winner of the design competition at Makerversity was determined by a five-member jury. Lotta may call herself the first Junior Bicycle Mayor of Amsterdam and of the world. The Bicycle Mayor of Mexico City, Areli Carréon, who was also in the jury, now takes the idea back to Mexico.

For this project the Amsterdam Bicycle Mayor worked together with BYCS, the City of Amsterdam, Vervoerregio Amsterdam, WorkCycles, Designathon Works, Makerversity and Verkeersplein Amsterdam. BYCS is the initiator and international convening organization powering the Bicycle Mayor network. What started with one Mayor in Amsterdam in 2016 is now active in major cities on every continent. Each Mayor acts as an independent catalyst for change, developing concepts to accelerate cycling progress, and uniting all city stakeholders to make these plans a reality.